Rise from the Ashes
by bellaXmonster
Summary: Pandora Milonas, Demigod, spent most of her younger years as a science project in SHEILD's early days. Now a young adult, she is brought back in, albeit unwillingly, to help fight against Loki and those who threaten earth. She starts her journey kicking and screaming, but a super soldier may teach her that following order's isn't as bad as she once thought. Mild swearing SteveXoc
1. An unpleasant surprise

**Hello everyone, super excited to be here : D I was debating on writing this story because I am actually leaving on June 14****th**** to go on tour with the Oregon Crusaders Drum and Bugle corps and won't have access to a computer until August 13****th**** once I leave. But I just kept thinking about it and decided to go for it.  
I already have a few chapters written and hopefully will have this first installment of this possible series done in the next month.  
I won't necessarily base my updates on review, but it really does help the writing process, without reviews I don't know what I am doing right, or wrong.  
Ummmm finally I will not transcribe the dialogue word by word from the movie. I assume you have seen the movie since you are here, so I don't feel the need to completely re-write everything : )**

**Of course, I do not own the Avengers, if I did then we wouldn't be here right now : P But I do own my OC Pandora. **

The crowded Greenhouse club was at its usual volume, the soft neon glow from the many lights that danced off the crystalline glass decorations made visibility low. Deep chestnut eyes surveyed the crowded the club, searching for its intended target. She spotted it, leaning casually against the bar. Deep brown curls framed an angular face with dark brown eyes. He couldn't have been older than 25, the glasses perched on his nose gave him the shy look of an artist. Moving through the crowd she kept her gaze on him, planning out the next few moves in her head.

"Care to buy a girl a drink?" the man nearly choked on his current swig of liquor as he did a double take at the woman in front of him. Swallowing deeply he tried to cover his folly with a smile, wiping the back of his casual button down across his chin to catch a few drops that escaped.

"Of course, what's your poison?" she batted her eyes towards him, leaning forward onto the bar to flash a bit of well-placed cleavage.

"A Cosmo would be heaven." He quickly flagged down a bartender, throwing a few bills across the counter before turning back the woman who had leaned into him.

"So, can I get a name?" he asked, and she flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder carelessly.

"Pandora," was her answer.

"Like Pandora's box?" she flashed him a charming smile and he almost knocked over the Cosmo that had been pushed across the bar. He fumbled, attempting to aim the drink into her hands, which she accepted gratefully, biting down onto the hot pink straw.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" she asked, after taking a long sip. "It's a little too crowded for my tastes." She knew she had him wrapped around her finger; she always got what she wanted from men, foolish as they were. If there was one thing her father taught her, it was that men were pitiful, lousy creatures. She led her newest companion through the crowd and into the crisp night air.

New York truly was the city that never slept, neon lights lit up the street, and people stilled bustled about just like they always did. They had made it a few blocks when the lights began to fade slightly, and traffic began to become scarcer. As they neared the entrance to her small apartment Pandora noticed a figure upon the stoop and she frowned, brows creasing into a deep v.

"Agent Hill, I would say it's a pleasant surprise, but I don't think there will ever be a time where your name will be followed by the word pleasant." The brunette rolled her eyes stepping down from the stoop.

"Pandora, I see you haven't grown up one bit" Pandora scowled as her eyes flickered over the confused man behind her. "Who's this?" she asked as if to emphasize her point.

"Aaron," he answered; after he realized that Pandora couldn't answer for him considering he had never told her and she had never asked.

"What are you doing here Maria?" Pandora asked, switching the conversation back in the right direction.

"It's time for you to quit playing around and come in." Pandora snorted, crossing her arms.

"Uh, should I leave?" Aaron asked but his small voice fell on deaf ears.

"I don't have to do anything! You don't own me, and I don't owe you shit!" Pandora seethed.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Maria threatened, even though she already knew the answer.

"Fuck you" with a flick of her wrist, hill pulled the trigger three small pops were released, Aaron fell to ground moments later followed by Pandora as the fast acting tranquilizer entered their blood streams.

Standing over their bodies Maria emptied another two darts into Pandora's back, just for good measure, before bringing a hand to her earpiece.

"This is agent Hill, I need a pickup and a disposal." A moment later two sleek black SUVs pulled onto the street, men clad in black pouring out from inside.

Pandora's hands were shoved into a contraption that worked much like hand cuffs, and two small watches like devices were clipped to either wrist; 102.8 degrees, normal temperature for the female. Once she was bound and ready to go one of the men hauled Pandora over his shoulder while another two moved onto the fallen civilian.

Maria Hill watched the going ons with a scowl, the world really was in trouble if they had sunk so low as to rely on people like Pandora Milonas to save it.


	2. Welcome Aboard

**Chapter two is now up, I hope you enjoy.**

**Favorites and follows are great, and reviews make me very happy : )**

A small girl sat in the corner of the white room before a table full of scattered pages and crayons. Her eyes were focused on the picture of kittens that were currently being colored various shades of pink and blue. A door opened, catching her attention. Looking up she watched the older woman stride into her room, white lab coat the telltale sign of a doctor.

"Hello Pandora, my name is Dr. Aves." The girl looked the women up and down before setting her crayon down and standing up.

"Dr. Aves, can I go home now?" she asked, and the doctor offered her a small smile.

"We need to run some tests first dear." The child pouted crossing her arms.

"I don't like shots" she stated matter of factly, remembering what her typical doctors' visits entailed. The doctor chuckled and shook her head.

"We don't need any shots today. I'm going to ask you to do something Pandora."

"Then can I go home?"

"Maybe" that was good enough for the 6 year old.

"Alright, I'll try." The doctor offered her a smile.

"Good girl, now can you make fire?" the girl frowned shaking her head.

"Why not?"

"I don't know how"

"But you did it before." The small girl just shook her head again and sighed, crouching down to be even with the child before her. "Just concentrate, think really hard about it." The seven year old hummed before taking a deep breath and puffing out her cheeks, eyes shut and severely concentrating. If anyone else had seen the girl they would have imagined she was doing the potty dance or throwing a tantrum.

"I can't do it" she complained after a while, stomping her foot in frustration. "I want to go home, I want my mom." She whined, rising in volume.

"I'm sorry, but you have to stay here, try again." Pandora shook her head, pout increasing.

"NO, I don't want to! I want my mom!" she yelled, the beginnings of a tantrum showing through. The seven year old had never done well with being bossed around. Being an only child her mother was eager to please.

"Pandora, calm down, or you will have a time out" the doctor threatened. And Pandora screamed out loud,

"You're not the boss of me! I want my mom, I want to go home NOW!" she threw herself to the floor, kicking and punching at the air in a typical childish fashion. Only, the more she got riled up the more the temperature in the room rose.

Doctor Aves took a step back, eyes widening, as she watched the writhing screaming child turn into a ball of flames. She screamed as the flame licked out at her, setting the white lab coat on fire and scalding her skin.

Men piled into the small room, large hoses at the ready which were then blasted onto the child. As the water put out the flames, in its wake was a soaking wet sniveling girl, curled up into the fetal position sobbing as water continued to pelt her back.

Pandora woke up, and knew immediately where she was. Her breath created small clouds in the air and she scowled, sitting up with a shiver. Her room was all metal, and had to be close to freezing. As she went to cross her arms she noted the small temperature gauges on her wrists and huffed in frustration at their readings 92.1 degrees.

A few clicks signaled the locks on the door were being undone. Fury walked in, and Pandora groaned out right.

"It's been a while Pandora," he noted, ignoring the face she was now giving him.

"Not long enough if you ask me," was her simple response, lips turned down into a deep frown. Fury pressed on, not bothering to give her the reaction she wanted. She had always been a difficult child, throwing tantrums and pouting when things didn't go her way, which was often.

"I've called you here-"

"You mean kidnapped me," she interrupted quickly. He gave her the evil eye that she grew up knowing was not good news and sat back; clamping her mouth shut, but not before giving him a curt hair flip.

"As I was saying, I've called you here because we need your help. As of late the earth has gained a few enemies, enemies that are right up your ally." He pulled a picture from a manila folder, flashing a shot of a black haired man. "This is Loki; he's not from around here, rather from your neck of the woods." Pandora raised a brow at that, taking a look at the picture.

"What, you mean he's Greek?"

"I was thinking more from your father's side of the family"

"He's no God I know" she stated as a matter of fact, racking her brain for some recollection of the man in the photo.

"Well that's because he is not a Greek god, he is often found in Norse mythology. Loki, brother of Thor." She raised a brow at that, and he barked a laugh. "Is that so hard to believe? Especially considering your back ground."

"Whatever, look what has he done that's got you dragging my ass in here?" she asked, getting impatient.

"He has stolen something of ours, the tesseract." The photo was replaced by one of a glowing blue cube.

"Never heard of it"

"And most people never will. It is a great power source, we don't even know the extent of its power, only that if wielded incorrectly it has the potential energy to wipe out the earth."

"And let me guess, even with all that you still thought you could harness it and use it to your advantage," judging by the glare he gave her she knew she was right on the money. She knew firsthand what SHEILD did to shiny new toys with power.

"We have called forth many people of exceptional abilities, formed a team if you will, and we need you to be a part of it."

"And what if I say no?" she asked.

"Then you will put the whole world at risk." She scoffed at that.

"Yeah, well what has the world done for me?" she asked and Fury took a step forward.

"How about this, if you continue to refuse our offer, then we will let you mull it over a bit more, and let you 'cool' off until you can think about it with a level head." She got the implication behind his words and she remembered why her dislike of the man was so great. His eye surveyed her face and relaxed slightly, the pout that always preceded her resignation was clear on her lips. "I'll take that as a yes, welcome aboard" Her pout increased tenfold at that and Fury could have sworn he saw smoke shoot out of her ears.

Pandora followed Coulson down the many corridors of the large hellicarrier until they reached a room with rows of uniforms behind glass cases.

"Now yours is this one right here, I helped design the physical aspect, but the scientists had a lot to do with the creation. The fabric can get just as hot as you, so your flames won't be impeded in any way." He explained. Clearly he was more excited than her. He had always been a pleasant man; spending more than one afternoon with her in her cell coloring page upon page of cats and playing the occasional game of hide and go seek.

"Is the 'P' on the chest really necessary?" she groaned, and Coulson laughed. She stared in disgust at the bold, red, letter that was surrounded by flame.

"That reminds me, I got you a new name." she raised a brow at that and turned her attention from the suit to him. "Phoenix." She rolled her eyes.

"How original" she muttered. "Can we please loose the 'P' though?" Coulson pouted but shrugged.

"I had a feeling you would put up some resistance so I made a backup, just in case." With a few clicks of a button the outfit was rotating into the wall and in its place was something not so repulsive.

"You always were my favorite" she noted, giving the man a small smile which he returned before bringing a hand to his earpiece, Pandora could just overhear the chatter on the other end but it was too quiet for her to make out exactly what was being said.

"Right away sir" was Coulson's quick response. His attention focused back onto Pandora. "Time to get dressed then Fury wants us to head to the bridge" With a few more clicks the glass separating them opened and he passed Pandora an armful of clothing. "Changing room is just through that door." He noted cheerily and she sighed. This was really happening; they were making her into a corny superhero. The world really was in some serious shit.


	3. The Bridge

**And chapter three, : D thanks for the fav's and follows. Reviews really let me know you're actually interested in reading though. So two minutes of your time makes all the time I spend writing worth it.  
I plan on posting a chapter a week, my sister agreed to beta and post weekly once I go out of town, so hopefully you will get updates weekly throughout the summer :D yay you! (That is if I finish writing before I go out of town, which is the plan, I already have like 10 chapters done.)  
Anyways, enjoy**

"You know it really worries me that you guys know my measurements," Pandora noted off handedly as the pair made their way down one of the many hall ways, patting down the sleek fabric that now covered her body. A slick pair of tight black pants adorned her legs with red knee high boots on top that matched the red lace up corset on her upper half. A thin veil of netting came up over her shoulder and down her arms. Of course no super hero outfit would be complete without a mask, which she had currently tied around her waist since there was no need for the simple black piece of fabric with eye holes. Obviously the design team had gotten lazy towards the end.

"Good to see you're still your sassy self after all these years," Coulson joked as they turned the hall before stopping. Before them a formation of S.H.E.I.L.D operatives were in formation around the man in the picture Fury had shown her just hours before, Loki. She watched and felt a chill run down her spine as the entourage passed her. Time seemed to slow. Ice blue eyes stared right back at her and it felt as if they pierced straight into her very soul. A brow raised and he leered towards her, eyes surveying her, though not in the sexual way she was used to. Rather in the manner that he would inspect a Rolex. Loki's gaze made her feel small, like a defenseless child again, and she shrunk back into Coulson, which only made the grin on the god's face grow. He faced front again as his group passed her by, but the cold tingling sensation never left. He was powerful, not human.

"He is quite the piece of work isn't he?" Coulson broke the silence that had fallen over the pair. Pandora snapped out of her trance.

"What the hell did earth do to get on his bad side?" she asked, peering down the hall way after the man who had put her so on edge.

"Nothing really, the guy is a nut job. He's got an issue with power. Come on we're still a few floors down from the deck."

With one last glance over her shoulder she trailed after Coulson. This whole thing just kept getting worse.

As they arrived at the bridge Pandora became tight lipped at the sight before her. There was already a group of people, all around a large round table, Pandora only recognizing two of the six. Those two being Agent Hill, and Agent Romanoff.

Agent Romanoff hardly gave her a glance before her eyes flickered back to the screen before her. Pandora didn't even have to look to know whose voice she was hearing from the speakers. Taking a step forward, she peered down at one of the many screens that showed the back and forth between Loki and Fury. As their conversation ended, the screen timed out and for a moment there was silence.

"He really grows on you doesn't he?" one of the men in the room noted sarcastically. He was shorter, with messy dark brown hair and glasses.

"Loki's going to drag this out. So, Thor, what's his plan?" It took all of Pandora's will power to not make a snide comment about the man's uniform, which looked like something out of an old school war propaganda poster.

It didn't take a lot of reasoning for her to decide who Thor was. The tall broad man was pacing slightly, his clothing reminiscent of the battle attire she had seen in images depicting her heritage. He had the same sense of power about him that she felt when she laid eyes on Loki, however it did not strike the same note of fear in her. The group continued on, discussing the problem at hand, with Thor's anger rising when his brothers sanity was likened to a 'bag of cats'.

"He killed 80 people in two day's," Romanoff noted, and another chill ran down Pandora's spine. She could sense he was bad news. Normal humans would never have known it, but being a demi-god allowed her to sense traits of those not of this world. Thor shifted his weight awkwardly at this news.

"He is adopted," He defended. Pandora rolled her eyes.

"None the less, he is powerful. More powerful than most of you are giving him credit for," she spoke up, causing all eyes to land on her.

"And who are you?" the disheveled man asked her. Before she could answer a voice cut in.

"Pandora Milonas, a demigod, daughter of Hephaestus." Walking in was Tony Stark. She would recognize the billionaire turned 'hero' anywhere. She couldn't turn on the T.V. or open a newspaper without seeing his face surrounded by headlines.

"A demigod, I have not seen you in Valhalla?" Thor questioned turning with a renewed interest to face the girl.

"My mother was a mortal, my father a god. You're in the wrong mythology," she quipped, and he rose a brow not fully comprehending what she meant.

"Anyways, now that introductions are over we have business to attend to," Tony called stepping forward. "We should be focusing on the mechanics of it all. Loki needs the Uridieam as a stabilizing agent, so that the portal wont collapse on itself like it did at S.H.E.I.L.D." he continued to move towards the center of the room, making a comment towards Thor about point break, which brought a small smile to Pandora's face. At least the man had a sense of humor. "That man is playing Galaga!" he called out and Pandora's head instantly snapped towards the direction of his pointing finger. "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." After a few more minutes of gripping about the computer screens Stark continued on with the main point.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked.

"Last night, the packet, the extraction theory, am I the only one who did the reading?" he exclaimed like a teacher annoyed at their class for not reading a chapter of homework.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Spangles asked, ignoring Starks outburst.

The ruffled man and stark began going back and forth, talking about Ionic fusion and other such concepts, which went straight over Pandora's head. With a sigh she heaved herself into a chair next to Spangles.

"Finally someone who speaks English," Stark exclaimed moving forward to shake the man's hand.

"Is that what just happened?" Spangles asked aloud.

"No, they're just geeking out," Pandora responded, receiving a raised brow from the man.

As the two science buffs continued to talk back and forth she caught that the man's name was , and something about a green monster.

"Green rage monster?" she asked allowed, but never got her answer.

" is only here to track the cube; I was hoping you might join him," Fury said in Starks direction.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a hydra weapon," Spangles said, and once again Pandora was lost in translation. She had no idea who Hydra was. She found herself wishing that she had read the packet that Fury had left her after their earlier talk.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. That and I'd like to know who Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor asked, "I do not understa-"

"I do!" Spangles exclaimed, and Pandora could not hold back the sputter of laughter that bubbled up. Everyone else looked mildly amused "I understood that reference," he finished and Pandora got ahold of herself enough to turn the laugh into a faux cough.

"Sorry, tickle in my throat," she lied, to which Spangles offered her a glass of water that was sitting on the table in front of him, which almost sent her into another fit of laughter. This guy was either really naive or raised far away from society.

Fury gave her a look and she reeled it in, taking a small sip of the offered water, to help calm her down.

"Shall we go play doctor?" Stark asked. With that the two science geeks left the room.

"Captain, I will need you to keep an eye on Pandora for now. Make sure that she doesn't go wandering off," Fury instructed and Pandora groaned.

"Really? I don't need a babysitter, especially not America the beautiful here!" she refuted, pointing an accusing finger at the offended man next to her.

"Excuse ma'am, but its captain America," he defended, to which she rolled her eyes with a 'whatever'.

"This discussion is over," Fury spat and with that left the room, signaling that indeed the discussion was over.


	4. Confrontation

**Chapter 4, thank you for the fav's and follows.  
Review are much appreciated. **

Pandora's patience was quickly being tested as her shadow trailed after her wherever she went.

"You know you really don't have to do this. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself," Pandora stated as she made her way down one of the many hallways of shield. Captain America, who she learned preferred to be called Steve, at her side.

"I'm sorry Ma'am but Fury made my orders very clear."

"Ma'am? How old do you think I am?" she giggled. It was clear he was not exactly up to date with the current jargon. "Pandora is fine, boy scout."

"I apologize Ma'am, I mean Pandora. The world has changed since I was last apart of it," he apologized and she raised her brow at that.

"Since you were last apart of it? What does that mean?" His face steeled slightly at that and suddenly she was made aware of how he seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. His eyes were much deeper than most men his age. He never got to answer though as they entered the doors of the lab and Steve's eyes widened.

"Are you nuts!?" he scolded Tony, who was currently harassing doctor Banner. Pandora trailed after the man, staring nervously at Banner, looking for any sign of the green monster dubbed 'the hulk' that Steve had filled her in about. Tony seemed to ignore Steve, continuing to pester Banner. "Is everything a joke to you!?" he pressed, clearly annoyed that Tony didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny, no offence Doc."

Banner gave him a small smile.

"It's alright; I wouldn't come aboard if I couldn't handle little pointy things."

"Your tiptoeing big man, you need to strut!" Tony advised as he tore open a small package of blueberries, and Pandora frowned. She was beginning to dislike the man before her more and more. His higher than thou attitude rubbing her in the wrong direction, men like him disgusted her, men like her father.

"You need to focus on the problem," Steve advised.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why here, why now? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury is hiding something?" Steve seemed to cringe at the thought.

"Fury is always hiding something." Pandora noted, having spent a fair share of her life around the man. Tony nodded in her direction.

"See, Fury is a spy, he is THE spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too." Banner stuttered for a moment, trying to remain neutral in the argument.

"Doctor?" Steve asked, searching for someone to prove Stark and Pandora wrong. Banner sighed, bringing his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose as the start of a headache began to form.

" 'A warm light for all mankind', Loki's jab at Fury about the cube. I think it was meant for you," he gestured to Tony, who in turn offered him a blueberry from the package he was toting around "Even if Barton didn't tell him about the tower, it was all over the news."

"Stark tower? That big ugly-" he paused noticing the look he was receiving from Tony "Building in New York," he finished.

"It's powered by an arc reactor; it's a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what a year?"

"It's just a prototype. I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now." The condescending attitude coming back. Pandora rolled her eyes which didn't go unnoticed by Tony, who raised a brow in her direction.

"So why didn't shield bring him in on the tesseract project?"

"Because he is a condescending loud mouth who can't keep his mouth shut about anything," Pandora suggested sarcastically, remembering how he took every shot he had to rub it in the nation's face that he was THE iron man.

"I'm sorry captain, but could you control your charge?" he asked, stepping towards Pandora who crossed her arms, popping a hip out. "Why are you even here anyways, last I checked all you were good for is a good lay, which I'm down for by the way." Heat rushed to her cheeks and Tony grinned. "Oh they had all sorts of goodies written about you, demigod with daddy issues, takes it out on unsuspecting men of New York, though I don't know who you think you're proving anything to," he taunted and she scowled.

"Your one to talk, men like you are dirt. Your think you are better than everyone else, but all it takes is one short skirt and you're down on your knees," she spat and Tony barked a laugh.

"Spoken like a true whore, listen, do you take money up front, or do I get a test ride to make sure your satisfactory?" Pandora was about to retaliate, the temperature gauges on her wrists beeping loudly but a flash of red, white, and blue cut her off.

She stared, shocked as Steve swept Tony off his feet, hand fisted into the smaller man's tee shirt, his toes barely brushing the ground.

"That's enough Stark, apologize to the lady," he demanded, furious at the man's lack of respect for the young woman in the room.

"Lady? Well, let me know when you see one old timer" Tony taunted, undaunted by Steve's threat.

"Steve!" Pandora scolded, her pride wounded at the fact that he was stepping in to defend her, like she couldn't handle the egomaniac herself.

"Steve put him down," Banner instructed trying to reign in the tempers of the room. Steve held the man a moment longer before setting him down with a scowl. Tony didn't look phased in the least, rather just adjusted his shirt, and popped another blueberry in his mouth.

"Well, Now that you have had your little testosterone show, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he threw a pointed glance in Pandora's direction who glared at him.

"It should only be a few more minutes before my decryption program finishes hacking into every single secure file Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours I will know every single dirty secret S.H.E.I.L.D has every tried to hide. Blueberry?" Steve's dislike for the man grew with every moment.

"And yet you wonder why they didn't want you on the project," he pointed out to which Tony just raised a brow at him.

"An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Steve had to steel himself before he lashed out at the man before him.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," he shot a pointed glance between Pandora and Tony. "This is a man that means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused he will succeed. We have orders, we should follow them," he stated and Pandora was reminded that Steve, unlike her, wanted to be in this position. He was happy to serve, was a real soldier.

"Yeah, following orders, not really my style." Another blueberry was popped into his mouth and Steve let out a harsh breath.

"And your all about style aren't you."

"Of the people in this room who is A wearing a Spangly outfit and B not of use." While the majority of that comment was directed at Steve, Tony's eyes flickered to Pandora for a moment, and she turned away, ignoring the man's gaze.

"Steve, tell me that none of this smells a little funky to you," Banner tried to reason with him. The blonde pondered for a moment, the inner turmoil clear on his face.

"Just find the cube." And with that he stalked out of the room, a hand on Pandora's back, guiding her out with him. The moment they were out of the lab Pandora stopped, catching Steve off guard.

"You didn't have to do that." She stated bluntly and the man raised a brow at her.

"Do what?"

"Stand up for me. I can fight my own battles." Steve offered her a small smile.

"I apologize ma'am. I didn't mean to step on your toes. It's just that a man should never talk to a woman like that," he explained and the anger she once harbored towards the man slowly dissipated. The sincerity in his eyes, and his small smile made it clear that he wasn't trying to show her up, or rescue her. Perhaps chivalry wasn't quite dead. She returned his smile, and for a moment the two sat in silence before she turned and began to walk off.

"Wait, where are you going," he called after her and Pandora stopped, spinning around to face him again.

"As much as I hate to admit it, egomaniac in there is right. If there is one thing I know about Fury, it's that he never tells you the full story. Something is fishy here and I'm going to find out what." Steve frowned.

"But I'm supposed to be watching you." She shrugged and turned, beginning to walk again.

"Then come with, no one's stopping you."

Steve struggled with himself for a moment, watching her retreating form. The soldier in him told him that he should order her to stand down, to follow the orders given to him, to trust his commanding officer. But times had changed, and even though he was not the sharpest tool in the shed anymore, he knew enough to trust his gut instinct, and his gut was telling him to follow the demigod who was almost out of eyesight. As she disappeared around a corner he groaned and lightly jogged to catch up with her. As he came up alongside her she gave him a cheeky smile.

"Well, you're not such a stiff after all," she teased, and all Steve could do was offer her a small smile.


End file.
